Al-Sadr Militia Leaving Shrine; Cleric Gone

NAJAF, Iraq — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) and his militia had mostly vacated and removed weapons from the shrine in Najaf Friday where they had been holed up during a 2-week-long standoff with U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (search), agreed to take control of the Imam Ali Shrine (search). One al-Sadr aide said the keys to the mosque could be handed over later Friday, though details were still being worked out.

Fighters from al-Sadr's Mahdi Army were inside the shrine but left their guns outside. Armed militiamen continued to circulate around the walled shrine compound in Najaf's Old City.

But al-Sadr himself wasn't there; it's thought he slipped out of the shrine overnight.

Al-Sadr and al-Sistani aides late Friday night were still trying to agree on how to transfer control. An aide to al-Sistani insisted al-Sadr's followers must completely leave the site before religious authorities would take the keys to the shrine that symbolize control.


posted by Frodgie at 9:58 AM

 

Three indicted in alleged terror-financing scheme

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two men in custody and a Syria-based leader of a Palestinian militant group have been indicted in a terrorism investigation involving a scheme to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas from Muslims in the United States.

Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau in Damascus, was named in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Chicago, Illinois. He is living in Damascus, but the United States and Syria do not have an extradition treaty, according to The Associated Press.

Two other defendants were arrested at their homes overnight, law enforcement officials said. They are Muhammad Hamid Khalil Salah, who was taken into custody in suburban Chicago, and Abdelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar, who was arrested in suburban Washington.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said Salah and Ashqar have been charged with obstruction of justice. Salah provided false answers in a civil suit involving the killing of an American in the West Bank, Ashcroft alleged.


posted by Frodgie at 9:56 AM

 

Two campers found slain on California beach

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A soon-to-be married couple reported missing when they didn't return to their jobs as camp counselors were found shot to death on a beach, apparently in their sleep, authorities said.

The bodies of Lindsay Cutshall, 23, of Ohio, and Jason Allen, 26, of Michigan, were discovered in sleeping bags by sheriff's deputies who were rescuing a stranded hiker.

"They were shot in the head, presumably in their sleep because there was no disturbance at their camp site," Lt. Dave Edmonds said. The victims had valuables nearby that weren't taken, Edmonds said.

Police believe the couple had been camping in the Jenner area, about 75 miles up the coast from San Francisco, since Saturday. Authorities do not know when the couple was killed. Autopsies were planned for Friday.

The two were spending the summer working at Rock-N-Water, a Christian adventure camp in Coloma, in the Sierra foothills about 50 miles east of Sacramento.

They were reported missing Monday after they didn't return to camp. They were last seen Friday when they said they were going to visit friends and would get back on Sunday, sheriff's officials said.

Authorities said the two bodies appeared to have been on the beach for more than 24 hours when they were spotted by a helicopter crew sent to rescue a 17-year-old boy who had fallen about 50 feet while trying to retrieve a purse his girlfriend dropped.

The hiker, who was clinging to a rocky cliff when rescuers arrived, was pulled up by a paramedic attached to the helicopter by a 100-foot rope.


posted by Frodgie at 9:52 AM

 

KERRY FILES FEC COMPLAINT

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic Party launched a costly round of ads Friday to buttress John Kerry's credentials to be commander in chief as the White House accused the Massachusetts senator of "losing his cool" over attacks on his war record.

"John Kerry is a fighter and he doesn't tolerate lies from others," spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter shot back at President Bush's spokesman.

Undeterred, the anti-Kerry group that provoked the furor distributed a second commercial to the news media and said it would begin airing next week in Nevada and New Mexico. The ad intersperses clips of a youthful Kerry talking about war atrocities during an appearance before Congress in 1971 with images of veterans condemning his testimony.

The unusual late-August maneuvering highlighted the closeness of the race for the White House and came as polls offered the first hint that the questioning of Kerry's medal-winning service in the Vietnam War - allegations that he strongly condemned this week as lies - were taking a political toll.

One poll found that more than half the voters questioned had seen or heard of an ad by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that accuses Kerry of lying about events that earned him five medals in Vietnam a generation ago. The University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey also found that 44 percent of self-described independent voters found the ad very or somewhat believable.


posted by Frodgie at 9:08 AM

 

NYC to GOP: Drop Dead

Tourists are pleasantly surprised when New Yorkers act as friendly and polite as the people back home in Maybury. However, delegates to this month's Republican National Convention shouldn't expect to be treated to our standard out-of-towner treatment. The Republican delegates here to coronate George W. Bush are unwelcome members of a hostile invading army. Like the hapless saps whose blood they sent to be spilled into Middle Eastern sands, they will be given intentionally incorrect directions to nonexistent places. Objects will be thrown in their direction. Children will call them obscene names. They will not be greeted as liberators.

Well aware that it is barren soil for their party's anti-urban, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist, overtly racist ideology, Republican leaders have wisely avoided New York City as a convention site for the past 150 years. Even as the rest of America turns red, we New Yorkers remain as liberal as the people's republic of San Francisco: fewer than 18 percent of the citizens of New York's five boroughs (which include relatively conservative places like Staten Island) cast ballots for Bush/Cheney in 2000. But White House strategist Karl Rove sees the continued exploitation of 9/11 for partisan political gain as Bush's key to victory in November. That means bringing the big bash three miles north of the hole where the Twin Towers used to stand, where most of the victims of 9/11 were burned, suffocated, impaled and pulverized.

Making hay of the dead is also the point of this confab's timing. The 2004 Necropublican National Convention is being held a full month later than normal, from August 30 to September 2. The original plan was to have Bush shuttle between Madison Square Garden and Ground Zero for photo ops to coincide with the third anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Bush's visits to the Trade Center site were quietly canceled a few months back after 9/11 survivors expressed revulsion at the idea. But it was too late to change the date.

Anti-Republican sentiment is rising to a fever pitch here as the dog days tick down to the dreaded affair. A poll cited by the local ABC affiliate shows 83 percent of New Yorkers don't want their city to host the RNC. And many of them are planning to do something about it.

Rejecting ex-mayor Ed Koch's call to "make nice" with the party that used the deaths of 2,801 New Yorkers--most of them Democrats--for everything from tax cuts for the rich to building concentration camps at Guantαnamo and Abu Ghraib to invading Iraq to enrich Dick Cheney and his fellow Halliburton execs, some groups are encouraging liberal-minded New Yorkers to volunteer for the city's squad of official greeters. Creatively altered maps of streets and subways will be handed out to button-clad stupid white men. Other saboteurs wearing fake RNC T-shirts will direct them to parts of town where Bush's policies have hit hardest. Rumor has it that prostitutes suffering from sexually transmitted diseases will discourage the use of condoms with Republican customers.

Anywhere between 250,000 and 1,000,000 anti-Bush demonstrators are expected to hit the streets of Manhattan, but the city and protest organizers can't agree on where to put them. Activists say they'll direct marchers to Central Park, their preferred site; city officials are threatening mass arrests if they do. Adding to the already combustible Chicago '68 vibe is a possible wildcat strike by city cops and firefighters. And now, as if everyone concerned wasn't already tweaky, FBI agents are traveling around the United States, to harass members of leftist groups planning to protest the New York RNC.

Strikebreaking policemen and private security personnel may be able to keep the protesters away from the convention hall. But Republicans who venture outside the Garden deserve the abuse ordinary New Yorkers will likely inflict upon them.

posted by Frodgie at 8:18 AM

 

'Sampan incident' belies heroic image

John Kerry invented a "war hero" persona in his private journals and in the home movies he filmed and staged in Vietnam. Playing the lead role, he developed a past intended to advance his future political ambitions.
In reality, Kerry was regarded by his Navy peers as reckless with human life. Although Douglas Brinkley's biography "Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War" recalls that Kerry used the call sign "Square Jaw" for a short time, it doesn't mention the sign he actually used for most of his four months in Vietnam: "Boston Strangler."
Kerry portrays himself as a Swift Boat officer constantly protesting to his superiors about criminal war policies and inappropriate tactics. In reality, while Kerry constantly complained about the location of assignments to his peers, he hardly ever said a word of protest or spoke out in objection to any superior officer.
Kerry, who skippered two Swift Boats in the Mekong Delta from Dec. 6, 1968, to March 17, 1969, often sported a home-movie camera to record his exploits for later viewing. Fellow "Swiftees" report that Kerry would revisit ambush locations for re-enacting combat scenes where he would portray the hero.
Kerry would take movies of himself in combat gear, sometimes dressed as an infantryman walking resolutely through the terrain. He even filmed mock interviews of himself narrating his exploits.
A joke circulated among Swiftees was that Kerry left Vietnam early not because he received three Purple Hearts, but because he had recorded enough film of himself to take home for his planned political campaigns.
Only after returning home did Kerry argue publicly that war crimes were committed on a daily basis at the direction of all levels of command. He compared his superior officers to Lt. William Calley of My Lai infamy. Kerry's accusations typically relied on impostors who concocted incidents that, when investigated, proved to be exaggerations or fabrications.
On the other hand, the propriety of Kerry's own conduct in Vietnam was and is the subject of serious question.
"Kerry seemed to believe that there were no rules in a free-fire zone, and you were supposed to kill everyone," Swift Boat veteran William E. Franke of Coastal Division 11 told us. "I didn't see it that way. I will tell you in all candor that the only baby killer I knew in Vietnam was John F. Kerry."
The evidence shows John Kerry was a ruthless operator in the field, with little regard for life. One example is the sampan incident in An Thoi in January 1969.

posted by Frodgie at 8:12 AM

 

Hamm: 'The gold's gone for sure'

ATHENS, Greece -- Hamm? No, Hamm was out of it. Everyone knew.
The American had just taken his chance at a gold medal and tossed it like a stone into the Mediterranean, stumbling off the vault like a man stepping on his own shoe lace, nearly falling onto the judges' table the way basketball players do when trying to save a loose ball. His hopes were hopeless.
Sure, Paul Hamm had pulled an Elway before, coming back from a separated shoulder last year to win the World Championships, but it couldn't happen this time. Not again. No way.
Paul Hamm went from first to 12th and back to first for gold.
Was this the way a winner looks? No, Hamm more resembled a teenager waiting to get his braces on, breathing heavy and nearly shaking. He was pale and cotton mouthed and spinning. Plus, why bet on a guy who was counting himself out?
"At that point," he said later, "I thought, 'The gold's gone for sure.' "
The gold? Try everything.
He started so strong, so much like the guy who was being hyped as the best U.S. male gymnast ever. He started on the floor routine, nailing a 9.725. Did the pommel horse next and twisted off a 9.700. Hopped over to the rings and pealed off a 9.587. After three events, he was in first place with 29.012 points, and was cruising toward a gold medal, a Wheaties box, and a life of first class, tables at the window and free drinks. It was that easy.
Then, he rushed down the runway toward the vault, and flew off it like he'd made trips to BALCO. Way too powerful, way too fast, he twisted and landed on the mat, falling forward, then peeled off to the right and nearly bellyflopped onto the judges' table, good for a sorry 9.137. He didn't even salute them on the way off or wave to the crowd. He took his seat on the bench and glared.
Said American gymnast Brett McClure: "I saw that, and yeah, I thought he was done."
He wasn't alone. Americans in the crowd started packing up their flags. Journalists started dreaming up leads detailing how the American men gymnastics program was getting closer to catching up with the rest of the world, but was still more Bon Jovi than Bruce Springsteen.

posted by Frodgie at 8:05 AM

 

Reporter's Notebook: Rumors of Pope's Demise Exaggerated

ROME — The pope is dying again. I just read about it yesterday.

Some of my friends heard it on the radio, and called to see if it was true.

By my count, Pope John Paul II has been dying since one Friday afternoon in September of 1994. I was sitting in the Time Magazine office in Rome when I got a call from my boss in Paris.

"Are you seated?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Good," he told me with a sense of real urgency. "We're doing a cover story on the pope. 'Lion in Winter.'"

The word had come from New York. The end had come for the first Polish pope, the first non-Italian pontiff in more than 450 years.

I didn't think a cover story was a very bright idea. Not that there wasn't concern about the pope's health. He had broken his leg earlier that spring, and that week the Vatican announced that his November trip to the United States would have to be postponed.


I think one of the editors at Time in New York had heard a network report declaring in solemn, stentorian tones that this was "the FINAL PHASE of the pontificate."

Friday night is closing night for Time, so it would have been quite a job to put out the magazine. But fortunately, it never happened. Sanity prevailed, and two hours later my boss called to say it was off.

Now I almost wish it had happened. It would be funny to have a 10-year-old Time Magazine cover on my wall with a picture of Karol Wojtyla under the words, "Lion in Winter."

All I can say is that it's been a pretty long "final phase." Since that September, the pontiff has made 42 international trips.

Granted, many of those trips were not long. One was a 13-hour hop to Bosnia last year, and his recent pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, lasted just 36 hours.

The Pope who liked to ski and swim has stumbled, mumbled and fallen asleep in public as he comes to grips with age, Parkinson's disease and severe arthrosis in his knees.


posted by Frodgie at 8:02 AM

 

U.S. Women Set Record in 800m Freestyle

ATHENS, Greece — The record stood for 17 years, a despised symbol of a cold-hearted regime that systematically drugged its athletes in the pursuit of Olympic glory.

Finally, it's been knocked off the books.

The American women completed a sweep of the 800-meter freestyle relay with a dominating performance at the Olympic pool Wednesday night, taking down the oldest — and most tarnished — world record in swimming.

Kaitlin Sandeno (search) swam the final leg and cruised to the wall in a time of 7 minutes, 53.42 seconds, easily beating the mark of 7:55.47 set exactly 17 years earlier by East Germany.

"It burned people a lot, and we all know the reason why," U.S. women's coach Mark Schubert said. "We're very proud to have that record back."

The East Germans set the relay record at an Aug. 18, 1987, meet in France. Two years later, the Berlin Wall came down and communism collapsed, bringing to light evidence of massive cheating by a country that viewed athletic success as a validation of its oppressive way of life.


posted by Frodgie at 7:59 AM

 

Retiring GOP congressman breaks ranks on Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Breaking ranks with his party and reversing his earlier stance, a senior retiring Republican lawmaker said Wednesday the military strike against Iraq was "a mistake," and he blasted a "massive failure" of intelligence before the war.

The unexpected four-page statement came from Rep. Doug Bereuter of Nebraska, who until earlier this month was the vice chairman of the House Intelligence Committee -- a panel that reviewed much of the evidence the administration cited before going to war.

"I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action, especially without a broad and engaged international coalition," Bereuter wrote in a four-page letter to his constituents.

"The cost in casualties is already large and growing, and the immediate and long-term financial costs are incredible."

Bereuter was particularly critical of the pre-war intelligence, which described an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But no such weapons have been found since the U.S.-led invasion.

Bereuter voted in support of an October 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but he said that vote was based on what he had been told about the WMD threat from Iraq.

"Left unresolved for now is whether intelligence was intentionally misconstrued to justify military action," Bereuter said.

After 26 years on Capitol Hill, Bereuter is retiring next month, and will become the president of Asia Foundation.

Congressional Republicans were surprised and angry at Bereuter's comments.

Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Illinois, a member of the intelligence committee, described Bereuter as "very bitter" for having been passed over in recent years to head both the intelligence and international relations committees. He suggested Bereuter's comments were a parting shot to House GOP leaders and President Bush.

An aide denied Bereuter was motivated to write the letter because he didn't get the appointments.


posted by Frodgie at 7:57 AM

 

Iraqi official: Al-Sadr must publicly announce withdrawal

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr must personally and publicly announce Thursday that he is disarming and will stand down, or Iraqi forces will take military action against him in Najaf, interim Iraqi Minister of State Kasim Daoud said.

U.S. tanks have surrounded the Imam Ali Mosque, the shrine where al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army fighters are believed to be holed up. Daoud said that if the cleric does not respond to the demands in the next few hours, military action will be taken.

At a joint news conference with Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zufri, Daoud outlined the Iraqi government's conditions for al-Sadr to disarm. He said Iraqi forces have special intelligence that will allow them to get al-Sadr without destroying the shrine, one of the nation's holiest.

Daoud called on al-Sadr and his militia to hand over all of their weapons, and he noted that the radical cleric will not be allowed to have his own court system.

Al-Sadr is wanted in connection with the killing of a rival cleric, Iraqi officials have said.

Iraq needs only one military, one leader and one government, Daoud said.

Al-Sadr must also free any civilian hostages he is holding, the minister said.

On Wednesday, a letter from al-Sadr's office in Baghdad said the cleric would give in to demands that he and his forces leave the mosque in Najaf, disband his Mehdi Army and "enter into the mainstream political process."

posted by Frodgie at 7:53 AM

 

Kerry's fellow 'Swiftees' dispute his Purple Hearts

In the history of Swift Boats in Vietnam, all military personnel served a tour of duty of at least one year unless seriously wounded. Among the few exceptions was John Kerry, who requested to leave Vietnam in 1969 after four months, citing a regulation that permitted release of personnel with three Purple Hearts.
Kerry, now the four-term senator from Massachusetts and the Democratic presidential nominee, is also the only known "Swiftee" who received the Purple Heart for a self-inflicted wound.
None of Kerry's three Purple Hearts was for serious injuries. They were minor scratches, resulting in no lost duty time.
Each of these decorations is controversial, with considerable evidence (and in two cases, incontrovertible and conclusive evidence) that the injuries were caused by his own hand and not the result of hostile fire.
Kerry's injuries are a subject of ridicule among fellow Swiftees.
"Many took exception to the Purple Hearts awarded to Kerry," Swift Boat veteran William E. Franke, a Silver Star recipient, wrote to the authors in March. "His 'wounds' were suspect, so insignificant as to not be worthy of the award of such a medal."
Franke and about 200 others, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, came forth in May to question Kerry's deception. These veterans from Kerry's unit signed a petition calling on him to execute Standard Form 180 and allow the public complete access to his service record.
Swiftees have remarked that if Kerry faked even one of these awards, he owed the Navy 243 additional days in Vietnam before running for anything.

posted by Frodgie at 9:30 AM

 

Kerry disputes allegations on Cambodia

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry is disputing an allegation made by a group of veterans opposed to his presidential candidacy that he never operated inside Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

In a just-published book, "Unfit for Command," the veterans said that "Kerry was never in Cambodia during Christmas 1968, or at all during the Vietnam War" and that he "would have been court-martialed had he gone there."

But the Kerry campaign said that the group, which calls itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, is wrong and that Kerry was inside Cambodia to drop off special forces on one mission and was at the border on other occasions.

"During John Kerry's service in Vietnam, many times he was on or near the Cambodian border and on one occasion crossed into Cambodia at the request of members of a special operations group operating out of Ha Tien," Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said in a statement. The statement did not say when the cross-border mission took place.

At the time of Kerry's service, the official policy was that US forces were supposed to respect the territorial integrity of Cambodia, but they occasionally went inside Cambodia either secretly or in pursuit of the enemy.

For years, Kerry has said he was in Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1968. He gave a detailed view of that experience in an article he wrote for the Boston Herald in 1979. "I remember spending Christmas Eve five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas," Kerry wrote. "The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real." A similar recollection by Kerry was mentioned in a Globe biography of the Massachusetts senator published earlier this year.


posted by Frodgie at 9:30 AM

 

What's 'gay' got to do with it?

"Throughout my life, I have grappled with my own identity, who I am. As a young child, I often felt ambivalent about myself ... confused."

Thus did New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey begin his tormented press conference wherein he outed himself as a homosexual, confessed to an adulterous affair with another man and resigned.

"At a point in every person's life," McGreevey intoned, "one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and declare one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is. And so my truth is that I am a gay American."

McGreevey was asking us to believe that his sexual orientation, over which he had no control, and a single "consensual" affair had forced him to make this heroic act of renunciation of office.

Had the governor's revelation come in a vacuum, it might have been received as the wrenching tale of a man wrestling with his sexuality and honestly facing it. But the circumstances of McGreevey's resignation suggest he is simply throwing a moral blanket over a smelly scandal.

"I realize the fact of this affair and my own sexuality if kept secret leaves me, and ... the governor's office, vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of exposure," said McGreevey." But that isn't even the half of it.

Jim McGreevey is not in a pickle because he is gay. The New Jersey press had long heard rumors he had been out trolling as he climbed the Garden State ladder to the governor's chair. They ignored the reports.

McGreevey's offense is that he dishonored his wife and disgraced himself by failing to curb his appetite for other men. He is no martyr to gay rights. He did not emerge bravely from a closet. He was dynamited out by a 35-year-old Israeli sailor and "poet" he picked up on a junket to Israel, imported and put on the payroll of a friendly fat cat, then on the payroll of the taxpayers of New Jersey as homeland security czar.


posted by Frodgie at 9:29 AM

 

Iraqi official: Raid prepared on Najaf mosque

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi forces are prepared to raid a Najaf mosque where Shiite Muslim militiamen are holed up, and the "rebellion" won't be allowed to continue, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.

Iraq "will not stand with arms folded," said a statement issued by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

"The government's position is clear and specific to ending armed manifestations, stopping acts of sabotage and making the armed men leave Najaf and the mosque," Allawi said.

Earlier, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Sha'alan said the Iraqi government has completed preparations for a military operation to "liberate the holy shrine" of Imam Ali Mosque and regain "Najaf city from the gang of mercenaries."

And, in an interview with Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya, Sha'alan said Iraqi troops will enter the holy sites in Najaf in a swift operation and he said he expects a "decisive battle."

Both Sha'alan and Minister of State Qassem Dawood told reporters in Najaf that that enough time has been given for negotiations.


posted by Frodgie at 9:28 AM

 

Iraqis Give al-Sadr Ultimatum

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi forces are giving loyalists of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) hours to lay down their arms before they storm the holy shrine where about 3,000 of al-Sadr's men are holed up.

The impending battle comes as Iraq's National Conference refused Wednesday to send a second delegation to Najaf to try to end the clashes between al-Sadr loyalists and U.S. troops after al-Sadr rebuffed the group.

Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said Iraqi forces were fully trained for a potential mission to oust the militants.

"We will teach them a lesson they will never forget," Shaalan said of al-Sadr's militia. "In the next few hours, they have to surrender themselves and their weapons."

Speaking to the Arab-language television station al-Arabiya, Shaalan said that U.S. forces would not enter the Imam Ali shrine (search) if an operation was carried out.

"There will be no American intervention in this regard. The only American intervention would be aerial protection and also securing some of the roads that lead to the compound. As for entering the compound, it will be 100 percent Iraqis," Shaalan said.

"Our sons in the national guard have been trained on the breaking-in operation, which was easy for them," he said. U.S. troops have avoided the shrine for fear of enraging Shiites worldwide.

In a statement released Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi (search) accused al-Sadr's militia of planting bombs around the mosque but he made no mention of an impending Iraqi attack.

Conference delegates suggested they were fed up with the anti-American al-Sadr, believed to also be in the shrine, after their eight-man delegation met with his aides Tuesday but never saw the cleric himself.

"If there were anyone sympathizing with him in the past, there will be none from now on because of this stand," delegate Abdul-Halim al-Ruhaimi said Wednesday.

"These delegates will not go again, they presented their proposal, the ball is now in his [al-Sadr's] court," added another official, adding that a new delegation could go to Najaf from the 100-member Iraqi National Council after it is established.

Al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany said the cleric did not show because of the "heavy shelling from the planes and tanks of the U.S. forces."


posted by Frodgie at 9:14 AM

 

Just Lock Mr. Freak Up

SANTA MARIA, Calif. — Child molestation allegations by a 12-year-old boy provided authorities with legal justification for a massive search of Michael Jackson's (search) Neverland Ranch last year, a judge ruled, rejecting defense efforts to challenge the search as illegal.

In his ruling Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville (search) short-circuited a plan by Jackson's lawyers to call multiple witnesses in an effort to show that prosecutors had insufficient information to justify the invasion of Jackson's estate last November.

Defense attorney Steve Cochran had argued that authorities "relied on a lot of pontificating" from people without sufficient expertise.

"The point was to smear my client, to make it appear there was a menace to society out there whose house needed to be searched immediately," he argued.

Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen said the only thing that could invalidate the search would be significant misrepresentations on the search warrant. Those, he said, were not present, and the judge agreed.

Melville conceded that there may have been "some relevant omissions," but he concluded: "There was probable cause to believe Michael Jackson had committed the offenses based on the statements of the minor witness."


posted by Frodgie at 9:09 AM

 

Mortar Attack Kills Five in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A delegation of Iraqis meant to help negotiate an end to an uprising in Najaf (search) was forced to delay its mission Tuesday when it could not get a military escort for the dangerous journey to meet the radical cleric at the center of the standoff in the holy city.

It was an embarrassing turn of events for Iraqi leaders seeking a political victory to give them credibility as they try to chart the country's new course and end the fighting in Najaf — their worst crisis since taking power in the end of June.

The 60 mediators from Iraq's National Conference (search) had planned to leave early Tuesday morning to meet radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) and appeal to his followers to put down their weapons and join Iraq's political process. However, by early afternoon, they still remained at the conference site in central Baghdad.

"The U.S. troops and Iraqi police refused to escort the delegation, they are afraid for its safety because they themselves are being targeted by militants," said delegate Ahmad al Hayali.

As the delegation waited, a mortar round hit a busy street several miles away, killing five people and wounding 39, the Interior Ministry and hospital officials said.

The blast on al-Rasheed Street set one building on fire and damaged seven cars, said Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman, of the Interior Ministry.


posted by Frodgie at 7:16 AM

 

AP: Israel Cave Linked to John the Baptist

KIBBUTZ TZUBA, Israel (AP) - Archaeologists think they've found a cave where John the Baptist baptized many of his followers - basing their theory on thousands of shards from ritual jugs, a stone used for foot cleansing and wall carvings telling the story of the biblical preacher.

Only a few artifacts linked to New Testament figures have ever been found in the Holy Land, and the cave is potentially a major discovery in biblical archaeology.

"John the Baptist, who was just a figure from the Gospels, now comes to life," British archaeologist Shimon Gibson said during an exclusive tour of the cave given to The Associated Press.

But some scholars said Gibson's finds aren't enough to support his theory, and one colleague said that short of an inscription with John's name in the cave, there could never be conclusive proof of his presence there.

John, a distant relative of Jesus - their mothers were kin, according to the Bible - was a fiery preacher with a message of repentance and a considerable following.

Tradition says he was born in the village of Ein Kerem, which today is part of modern Jerusalem. Just 2.5 miles away, on the land of Kibbutz Tzuba, a communal farm, the cave lies hidden in a limestone hill - 24 yards long, four yards deep and four yards wide.

It was carved by the Israelites in the Iron Age, sometime between 800 B.C. and 500 B.C, the scientists said. It apparently was used from the start as a ritual immersion pool, preceding the Jewish tradition of the ritual bath.

Over the centuries, the cave filled with mud and sediment, leaving only a tiny opening that was hidden by trees and bushes. Yet in recent years, it had occasional visitors - Reuven Kalifon, an immigrant from Cleveland who teaches Hebrew at the kibbutz, took his students spelunking.


posted by Frodgie at 7:16 AM

 

Thieves plunder in Charley's aftermath

PUNTA GORDA - After the hurricane ended, the looting began.

Among the first targets, officials said, was the Charlotte Harbor Fire Department. Firefighters arrived early Saturday to find that their computers had been swiped in the night.

Charlotte County Sheriff's Office spokesman Robert Carpenter said his office is getting regular reports of looting from residents of the area's many storm-wrecked neighborhoods. Carpenter said his officers are responding when able, but that they are saddled with more pressing demands, such as caring for survivors.

"No question about it," he said. "We are behind on these types of calls."

The fear of looting is so widespread, many residents are staying in their damaged homes to protect their valuables. Emergency shelters have far fewer people than officials had expected given the extensive damage in Charlotte County.

With computers at the county jail not operating, Carpenter said he did not know how many arrests had been made. At the jail, sheriff's Capt. Tony Penland said four people had been taken into custody for suspected looting, but he did not know the specific charges against them.

In areas hit by Hurricane Charley here, a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. was in effect Sunday night to combat theft.

Carpenter said 50 to 60 of his officers would patrol the streets, aided by 1,500 National Guard troops sent to the area, as well as personnel from other agencies.

Over the weekend, 25 Remington rifle-toting Pinellas County sheriff's deputies were patrolling the streets of Port Charlotte, protecting the many businesses whose walls and roofs were gone and whose merchandise was exposed to view.


posted by Frodgie at 7:15 AM

 

Bush announces major troop realignment

CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) -- Promising "a more agile and more flexible force," President Bush announced on Monday a major realignment of U.S. forces around the world.

Bush said about 60,000 to 70,000 uniformed personnel would move from overseas to posts in the United States over the next decade. The move would also involve about 100,000 family members and civilian employees, Bush said.

"The new plan will help us fight and win these wars of the 21st century," Bush said in a speech before a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Pentagon and senior administration officials told CNN that most of the reductions will come from Europe -- the rest, from Asia.

The moves, they said, would not affect U.S. troops based in Iraq or Afghanistan, where there are about 120,000 troops and 20,000 troops respectively.

Two U.S. Army divisions based in Germany will return to the United States as part of the realignment, senior Pentagon officials said Monday.

Bush's announcement -- tagged on the end of a political speech -- drew quick criticism from the Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry. Surrogates for Kerry -- who is taking a break from the campaign trail -- said the redeployment would undermine U.S. security.

But Bush said it makes no sense to continue an armed posture that was forged during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union represented the nation's biggest threat. Terrorism, he said, is now the chief threat.


posted by Frodgie at 7:14 AM

 

Phelps' record dreams fall short

ATHENS — He is still a masterful swimmer, arguably the world's best, and a likely candidate for enshrinement on a Wheaties box. But there will be no equaling of Mark Spitz's record, no million-dollar bonus, no transcending the sport that he has worked so hard to lift from relative obscurity.
Maybe next time.
Beijing beckons. For now, Michael Phelps' quest to equal Spitz's mark of seven gold medals in a single Olympics is over, dashed last night in a fast and furious 200-meter freestyle race that saw Phelps break his own American record, yet still finish third behind Australia's Ian Thorpe and the Netherlands' Pieter van den Hoogenband.
"I had an opportunity to do something that [Spitz] did, and I tried to match it," said Phelps, who captured a second bronze medal to go with his 400-meter individual medley gold. "But I didn't. It's an honor winning one gold medal. It's a great opportunity that I had and always something I'll remember."
Thorpe reaffirmed his mastery of a race in which he holds the world record, becoming the most decorated Australian in Olympic swimming history with a Games-record time of 1:44.71. Van den Hoogenband, the defending Olympic champ, finished in 1:45.23, just ahead of Phelps' 1:45.32.
When it was over, Thorpe stripped off his cap and goggles and raised a fist. As the other swimmers filed out of the pool, Phelps drifted to the far corner, alone, looking at the Aquatic Center scoreboard.
Though the 19-year-old from Baltimore was slow to leave the water, there was no time to sulk: He was back in the pool just 46 minutes later, swimming in the 200-meter butterfly semifinals. Phelps still has a shot at five more golds — two in relays and three in individual events, including today's 200-meter fly and 4x200-meter freestyle relay finals.
posted by Frodgie at 7:13 AM

 

Dems Attack Bush on Corporate Ties

KETCHUM, Idaho — Presidential nominee John Kerry (search) and other Democrats are accusing President Bush of stacking the federal government with friends and donors who are gutting regulations on U.S. corporations.

Kerry, running mate John Edwards (search) and supporters are stressing a theme this week that they've been campaigning on all year — Bush puts corporate interests ahead of workers and the middle class.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry has no standing to criticize, considering that the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (search) determined he has received more campaign contributions from lobbyists over the years than any other senator. Schmidt also pointed out that Edwards, a North Carolina senator, refused to release the names of his top fund-raisers.

"There is a great deal of hypocrisy in these attacks," Schmidt said.

The Kerry campaign also announced Kerry will donate $6 million from his record-breaking $225 million primary fund-raising to the Democratic Party's efforts to win seats in the House and Senate. The money will be split evenly between the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

With Kerry vacationing in Idaho, Edwards, a former trial attorney, was arguing the campaign's case that Bush has "the most aggressive anti-regulatory posture in memory" during a stop in Willard, Mo., on Monday.


posted by Frodgie at 7:10 AM

 

Saddam agents on Syria border helped move banned materials

Saddam Hussein periodically removed guards on the Syrian border and replaced them with his own intelligence agents who supervised the movement of banned materials between the two countries, U.S. investigators have discovered.
The recent discovery by the Bush administration's Iraq Survey Group (ISG) is fueling speculation, but is not proof, that the Iraqi dictator moved prohibited weapons of mass destruction (WMD) into Syria before the March 2003 invasion by a U.S.-led coalition.
Two defense sources told The Washington Times that the ISG has interviewed Iraqis who told of Saddam's system of dispatching his trusted Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) to the border, where they would send border inspectors away.
The shift was followed by the movement of trucks in and out of Syria suspected of carrying materials banned by U.N. sanctions. Once the shipments were made, the agents would leave and the regular border guards would resume their posts.
"If you leave it to border guards, then the border guards could stop the trucks and extract their 10 percent, just like the mob would do," said a Pentagon official who asked not to be named. "Saddam's family was controlling the black market, and it was a good opportunity for them to make money."
Sources said Saddam and his family grew rich from this black market and personally dispatched his dreaded intelligence service to the border to make sure the shipments got through.
The ISG is a 1,400-member team organized by the Pentagon and CIA to hunt for Saddam's suspected stockpiles of WMD, such as chemical and biological agents. So far, the search has failed to find such stockpiles, which were the main reason for President Bush ordering the invasion of Iraq to remove Saddam.

posted by Frodgie at 8:59 AM

 

Islamic Group Warns of 'Bloodbaths'

CAIRO, Egypt — An online statement purportedly from an Islamic militant group threatened the Netherlands and Italy with "bloodbaths" if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq.

There was no way to verify the authenticity of the statement, which appeared late Sunday on a Web site known as a clearing house for militant-related material.

The statement addressed all European countries that have sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, but also specifically mentioned the Netherlands and Italy.

"We advise you to withdraw the Dutch troops from Iraq, otherwise we will not be responsible for the retaliation which will not be through the Internet, but through our special means," warned the Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Islamiya (search) group.

"Wait for the hell which will turn your nights into bloodbaths."

The statement addressed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (search) by name and said: "You have defied the soldiers of Islam so wait for the Islamic quake."

Italy has about 3,000 troops in Iraq.


posted by Frodgie at 8:47 AM

 

Baghdad sends delegation to Najaf

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's National Conference agreed on Monday to send a delegation to Najaf to meet with Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and encourage him and his Mehdi Army militia to withdraw from the Imam Ali Mosque.

According to delegation member Rajaa Khuzaie, delegates will arrive in Najaf no later than Tuesday morning.

Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army has been battling U.S. and Iraqi forces in Najaf for more than a week and a half. The huge mosque compound is surrounded by Iraqi forces, but authorities have said there is no plan to storm the site, considered one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said Sunday 25 heavily armed foreigners are holed up inside the mosque south of Baghdad and have rigged it with explosives, threatening to blow up the building if attacked.

Khuzaie said the delegation will ask al-Sadr and his militia to leave the shrine, lay down their weapons and reconfigure themselves as a political group.


posted by Frodgie at 8:40 AM

 

Florida Cleans Up After Charley Kills 16

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Residents left homeless by Hurricane Charley's 145 mph winds dug through their ravaged homes on Sunday, sweeping up shattered glass and rescuing what they could as President Bush promised rapid delivery of disaster aid.

With temperatures in the 90s and humidity that made it feel hotter, people waited with carts in long lines to buy ice. Supermarkets gave away water in five cities as just under 1 million people remained without power and 2,300 stayed in emergency shelters.

"It's as close to hell as I can think of," said Khoum Khampapha, a resident of Easy Street in Port Charlotte, as he looked around his neighborhood of gutted homes. "It's just breathtaking."

As the storm weakened off the coast of New England, Bush surveyed the devastation in Florida, where the storm caused billions of dollars in damage and killed at least 16 people.

In and around Punta Gorda, trailer after trailer lay toppled. Others were blown apart entirely, exposing interior walls that had been pushed down flat, with doorways leading to nowhere. Other rooms stood, but without ceilings or roofs to shelter them from the open sky.


posted by Frodgie at 8:37 AM

 

Oldest Heinz Son Pursues Hands-On Activism

OTTSVILLE, Pa. - Teresa Heinz Kerry once hinted at tensions with her first-born son, a 37-year-old blacksmith who seeks an anonymous life with his wife and child in rural Pennsylvania.

But if H. John Heinz IV is noticeably absent from his stepfather John Kerry (news - web sites)'s presidential campaign and in news photos of the high-wattage Heinz-Kerry clan, his activist interests — the environment, youth, local programs — mirror much of the focus of his family's $1.5 billion Heinz Endowment charities.

Heinz Kerry's eldest son lives with his physician wife, Kristann, on a wooded 163-acre farm near Philadelphia, refusing all inquiries about Kerry's campaign, the Heinz foundation or his own work and ambitions.

He operates a small Buddhist high school for troubled teens nearby, and makes reproduction ironwork in a studio on his secluded property, land he has conserved so it can never be developed.

On a much larger scale, Teresa Heinz Kerry has steered money to the environment, education and local art and cultural groups as chairwoman of the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments.

Heinz Kerry told The Washington Post in a 2002 profile that John started "hating her" after his daughter Astrid — her only grandchild — was born in 2000. She did not elaborate and her eldest son did not comment afterward. But he continues to serve with her on the board of one of the Heinz charities.

John Heinz surfaced briefly in the news at a 2001 cocktail gala for a Heinz enrichment program for Pittsburgh children, warranting a small notice in a Pittsburgh newspaper, but generally asks friends and family to help guard his privacy. Heinz Kerry plans to honor that request throughout the campaign, a spokeswoman said.

Heinz, a handsome, lean man with closely cropped dark hair, declined an interview with The Associated Press.

"We're just a little community school and obviously it doesn't do us any favors if people find out about it," said Peter Ryan, who with Heinz co-founded Tinicum Art and Science, a Buddhist alternative school, in Bucks County about five years ago.


posted by Frodgie at 8:21 AM

 

Peace talks collapse in Najaf

NAJAF, Iraq — Negotiations to end the fighting in Najaf broke down yesterday, threatening to spark a resurgence of the fierce clashes between Shi'ite militants and a combined U.S.-Iraqi force that have plagued this holy city for more than a week.
The collapse of talks cast a pall on Iraq's national conference, which starts today, gathering 1,300 delegates from across the country in what is considered a vital step toward establishing democracy.
The chief government negotiator said he decided to quit the talks in Najaf after three fruitless days, but representatives of militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said a deal almost had been reached before Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a Shi'ite, objected to its terms.
"It is a conspiracy to commit a big massacre," Sheik al-Sadr's top negotiator, Sheik Ali Smeisim, told the Arab television station Al Jazeera.
Soon after the talks broke down, a massive Army and Marine force of tanks, Humvees and armored vehicles lined up inside a U.S. military base in Najaf for an assault on the militants, which Mr. Allawi reportedly delayed.
"We were sitting here waiting for authorization to go clear the militia. We never got that authorization," said Marine Maj. David Holahan. "We'll continue operations as the prime minister ... sees fit."
U.S. forces called a halt to a major offensive in the city on Friday to give negotiations a chance. The fighting in Najaf has angered many among Iraq's Shi'ite majority, complicating a difficult situation for Mr. Allawi's U.S.-supported government, which has been keen to show that it is in control.

posted by Frodgie at 8:39 AM

 

Officials: Jewish Extremists Plotting Violence

JERUSALEM — A cache of weapons discovered hidden in caves in the West Bank has raised extra alarm bells among Israel's internal intelligence service because the terrorists are Jewish extremists.

The weapons were stolen from the army by members of the same movement that tried to blow up an Arab girls' school in Jerusalem two years ago using a trailer packed with explosives.

Now the head of Israel's Shin Bet Security Service (search) is warning the rise of extremism on the far right in Israel could lead to the assassination of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to stop his plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza.

Israel's minister for internal security has issued a warning that Jewish extremists are again planning to attack mosques in the hopes of igniting a war and halt any peace process.

Itamar Ben Gvir is one of the leaders of the outlawed Kach Movement (search) — followers of the radical Rabbi Meir Kahane. The posters in their office call for expelling the Arabs from Israel. This Jewish group with an office in downtown Jerusalem is listed both in Israel and the United States as a terror group.

posted by Frodgie at 8:35 AM

 

Former aide accuses McGreevey of unwanted advances

TRENTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey -- who said he would step down in November after admitting an extramarital gay affair -- faced pressure Friday to resign immediately amid accusations that he abused his office and power to pursue a sexual relationship with the man.

"While employed by one of the most powerful politicians in the country, New Jersey Governor McGreevey, I was the victim of repeated sexual advances by him," said attorney Allen Lowy, reading a statement on behalf of his client Golan Cipel.

McGreevey, who stunned the political world with his announcement Thursday that he is gay, had cheated on his wife and would leave office in three months, has not publicly identified the man he was involved with.

Sources said it was Cipel, an Israeli citizen who served as homeland security adviser to the governor. Cipel was not at the news conference in New York, where his attorney read the statement.

In his statement, Cipel described himself as a "victim," saying he lacked the "strength to disentangle myself from such an oppressive environment and from such a manipulative person."

And Lowy denounced what he called a "smear campaign" against his client by the governor, apparently referencing reports that Cipel or a representative had threatened to sue the governor unless paid millions of dollars.


posted by Frodgie at 8:31 AM

 

Charley's Force Took Experts by Surprise

Hurricane Charley's 145-mph force took forecasters by surprise and showed just how shaky a science it still is to predict a storm's intensity - even with all the latest satellite and radar technology.

"Most major hurricanes become major by going through a rapid intensification. This is the Number 1 area to research. I think that there is the perception out there because of the satellite photos and aircraft data, people do have faith in the technology and sometimes that faith is too much," Max Mayfield, National Hurricane Center director, told reporters Saturday in Miami, 24 hours after Charley slammed into Florida's western coast.

"A lot of people think we can give them a near perfect forecast. We know we can't give them a near perfect forecast."

Charley quickly grew from a Category 2 to a Category 4 storm Friday and its course took a sharp turn to the right, which put it some 70 miles south of the originally projected bull's-eye.

With so much media focus on Tampa and St. Petersburg, many residents in and around Punta Gorda were caught unprepared. The hurricane left at least 15 people dead in its wake - a wake that might not have been nearly as big if the storm had stuck to its original path and struck the big evacuated cities farther up the coast.

All along, the hurricane center had issued warnings for coastal residents from the Keys all the way up to Tampa Bay, said hurricane center meteorologist Robbie Berg.

"We're kind of surprised that people were caught by surprise," he said.

Although Charley's path had the storm heading toward the Tampa area, Berg said the warning swath encompassed a much larger area - as far south as Punta Gorda, in fact. The swath takes into account any errors, he said.


posted by Frodgie at 8:27 AM